Therapist shortage a strain on parents

FIVE-YEAR-OLD Darragh Ryan only recently spoke his first three words, but his parents Sean and Mary are over the moon.

The energetic boy from Lansdowne Park in Limerick, who suffers from cerebral palsy, uttered the words "yes", "no" and "poo" after completing a rehabilitation programme in Somerset, England.

These words are all-important at establishing his sense of self-independence, Sean said yesterday.